A Very Royal Scandal

I had missed, perhaps even avoided the original transmission of this three-part Amazon mini-series centring on the famous or infamous, depending on how you look at it, BBC Newsnight interview carried out with Prince Andrew by the station's Emily Maitlis. However, it naturally came back to mind after the sad news of the Prince's accuser Virginia Gioffre's very recent suicide. That said, the late Ms Gioffre barely makes an appearance in this dramatisation, apart from actual footage of her being interviewed on TV stating her case and of course featuring prominently in the photograph taken by Jeffrey Epstein of the Prince with his arm around her as Epstein's convicted procurer Ghislaine Maxwell looks on.

Of course, as the printed text makes clear at the outset of each programme, much of what we see here is imagined from the known facts and obviously dramatised for effect. Thus the only thing to completely trust here is the verifiable recreation of the actual interview itself between the Prince and Maitlis and although understandably no one from the Palace is credited with assisting in the making of the programme, I would like to think that Matlis herself was open and honest with her input to what we see here.

Over the three episodes, the two main characters, the Prince and Maitlis get almost equal coverage. We see each of them interact with their families and for want of a better word, their staff, although obviously the Royal can count on more resources in that respect. I personally feel this approach was wrong as for me the scandal surrounding Andrew is the story and not the interviewer, no matter how well the latter does her job.

The Prince is presented as a boor, expecting everyone in his orbit to ask how high when he commands them to jump, usually with added expletives. In particular he unloads on his long-suffering ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, presented as a parasite and sycophant who's a financial drain on her ex-husband and also his meek subservient P. A. Amanda Thirsk. When his New York-based friend and at times landlord and banker, the convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently commits suicide in his prison cell and Miss Guiffre comes forward to allege that Andrew raped her three different times at three diffetent places always in Epstein's vicinity, the Prince comes under pressure to try to clear his name, which he chooses to do on national TV interviewed by the very capable Ms Maitlis. Although we never see them, it's made clear that the Queen and Prince and now King Charles take a keen interest in the affair with the general Palace consensus being that Andrew should try to ride out the storm rather than face it head on, encouraged in the latter course by his PA and older daughter.

We all know of course that the actual prime-time interview was a veritable car-crash for Andrew and that in its wake, a hefty no-liabilty settlement was offered to Miss Jioffre, likely from the Queen's purse, which the young woman couldn't turn down. No doubt it was hoped that this would make the story go away but with further revelations about Andrew's shady business connections coming out in recent times to further sully his reputation, it's clear that his status has taken an irreversible hit, this only compounded with the news of Miss Gioffre's seeming death by suicide.

Although neither quite looks the part, the chameleon-like Michael Sheen and the equally skilled Ruth Wilson certainly convince as the two leads. For me, however, a good portion of the scenes presented just didn't quite ring true, often hindered by questionable dialogue and unsatisfactory scene-setting. I very much doubt that Andrew's two daughters ever joked about his old "Randy Andy" nickname or that he himself mentions his military service in the Falklands any chance he gets, although I am willing to believe his kids do call him "Pups" and that he called the queen "Mummy" but therein lies the problem. For every telling line and sly in-joke there were others which seemed hyperbolic and implausible. I'm no royalist myself but even I thought Andrew's petulant and bullying characterisation as depicted here seemed a touch heavy-handed, even as I personally doubt his vividly remembered Pizza Express visit and his frankly bizarre claim not to sweat which contrasts with his amnesia about ever encountering Miss Gioffre. Of course, he was never going to confess on live TV to anything to his own detriment, but if he was innocent all along, then why not testify in court rather than make a multi-million pound "go away" payment just because you, or rather your mother, can.

Still, like a real car crash, you couldn't turn your head away from all three hours of it. For the Prince, who has lost his royal term of address and been forced to retreat from active duty, he appears to have been tried and convicted at least in the eyes of the public, but as Maitlis points out at one juncture, let's not forget that here is a man born to luxury and privilege who still lives in a palace and is waited on hand and foot out of the public purse, and benefits from all the protective mechanisms that the Palace automatically confers on him. We should have his problems. Then compare that with the sad fate of Miss Gioffre, used, abused and trafficked as a young girl, who in the end, despite receiving a huge "compensation" settlement, decided she couldn't go on with her own life. I'm not saying that her suicide can be laid entirely at the door of Prince Andrew but it clearly weighed heavily on her, especially with all the attendant publicity.

How is it the old song goes?

"It's the same the whole world over, It's the poor what gets the blame, It's the rich what gets the pleasure, Isn't it a blooming shame?"

P. S. Do go back and watch, as I did, the full interview, which is available on YouTube. It's absolutely riveting.

I've viewed the first (of 3) episodes and really enjoyed it. It's a 'grown up' production, beautifully filmed and with a pace and editorial that engages you from the start. The acting is superb, particularly Michael Sheen as Price Andrew. It's a substantial piece of work covering the before, during and after the interview and I very much look forward to watching the 2 remaining episodes. It's fun too!

PS - the reviewer ExiledRoyal notes that as the production is shot in letter box format, the top and bottom black bars are frustrating. The reviewer might like to adjust the settings on their television so that the set can adjust to the format. I get a full screen with no image miss and no black bars.

Obviously huge chunks of this docudrama are fictionalised as it portrays what was going on behind the scenes leading up to, during and after the controversial BBC interview with Prince Andrew. We see a lot of Andrew's family and Royal advisors and Emily Maitlis' family and colleagues at the BBC (By the way, I think this is far better dramatisation than the recent version starring Billie Piper which was told through the eyes of a BBC researcher.) Michael Sheen must be one of, if not the best character actors of his time. He does not particularly resemble some of the characters he portrays but with excellent input from wardrobe and make up and his ability to deliver lines with the mannerisms of these people he is utterly convincing in the part. It is thus the case with his portrayal of Prince Andrew. Ruth Wilson is very good to in the role of Emily Maitlis.

I think it was an appropriate we do not see any of the Royal family other than Andrew's immediate family portrayed on screen. Mummy and Charles speak to Andrew over the phone and we do not see or hear them. We do have a lot of fictionalised dialogue between Andrew, his daughters and ex-wife Fergie. And some rather cringing scenes with Andrew's staff especially Amanda Thirsk played by Joanna Scanlon. This we should take with a pinch of salt and not as a historical account. We can assume that Emily Maitlis is happy with the depiction of her input into the interview and family life as she was plugging the drama on GMB the day before it dropped on Amazon Prime.

I binge watched all 3 episodes because it is such a good dramatisation not because I wanted to know how it ended.

I like Ruth Wilson as an actress, but I think Gillian Anderson's portrayal as Emily Matliss just pipped her, I think they should/could have put this into 2 episodes, I found myself drifting in the third although maybe then they would have cut the best line in the drama "I would have offered you tea but we've had to let the the staff go" this line delivered by "Fergie" played brilliantly by Claire Rushbrook, to the equally excellent Alex Jennings playing the Queens deliverer of bad news ,Sir Edward Young,this line probably sums up the weird world that they live in. Make it yourself you entitled so and so,shout all us commoners!

Was he guilty ? Maybe, Was he innocent ? Maybe Was/is he an idiot? No maybe's about this one .

One star docked for Ruth Wilson's Elizabeth Holmes Theranos CEO type voice. What were they thinking? It was so obviously put on and fake. Took me right out of the drama. Is she angling to play Margaret Thatcher in future?

I loved the actress who played Sarah Ferguson and Michael Sheen is always good, but when I first heard he was playing Prince Andrew I was really surprised. I just didn't see how he could pull it off, but wow he did... And without a silly voice! He really captured the look and feel of a man in turmoil. That embarrassed type of anger when someone knows they have been caught out. That is skill.